Joe Gibbs explains why Chris Gabehart suddenly left Joe Gibbs Racing

One of the most consequential moves during the NASCAR offseason was not from a driver or a crew chief. 

It was the departure of Chris Gabehart, who served as Joe Gibbs Racing's competition director in 2025, from JGR. Gabehart's departure from the organization was confirmed by Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press on Dec. 3. 

Gabehart led JGR's No. 11 Cup Series team as the crew chief for Denny Hamlin from 2019-24, a period that saw Hamlin and Gabehart win 23 races together, including back-to-back Daytona 500s in 2019 and 2020. 

In 2025, with Gabehart now in a team-wide leadership role, JGR had its winningest season since 2019, with Hamlin, Christopher Bell and Chase Briscoe combining for 13 wins and Hamlin coming up three laps shy of winning the Cup Series championship. 

In a Tuesday interview with SiriusXM NASCAR Radio, Joe Gibbs explained the timeline behind Gabehart's departure from the organization.

Joe Gibbs shares why Chris Gabehart left JGR

"After the season, Chris and I met and we just decided to go our separate ways," Gibbs told SiriusXM's Danielle Trotta. 

Gibbs added that the situation and Gabehart's departure did come as a surprise.

"It's just one of those things that, we went through a year there, and when we finished the year, it was a situation where we sat down, talked, and decided to go our separate ways."

Jayski reported on Dec. 3 that Gabehart was rumored to be moving to Spire Motorsports for 2026, but no such move has been announced by Spire. In December 2025, it was announced that former Cup Series crew chief Matt McCall would be the team's new Cup Series competition director.

His departure left a gaping hole in JGR's leadership that was quickly filled by the team. 

"What we did is, Wally Brown came back. He had been in that role [competition director] and he had been working less time with us," Gibbs said. "We brought Wally back, and he's great in that role. We have four others that work on a committee. They're focused on week-to-week. We have other people that assist them, but they're the ones that have to make our cars go fast. Everybody else in the company, including me, we assist them."

"Instead of having one person as the competition director, we actually have that committee."

Brown and the rest of JGR's competition staff will now have the unenviable task of following in Gabehart's footsteps and trying to maintain a winning culture, beginning with Sunday's Daytona 500.

Quotes provided by SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.